Brian Ulrich

My artistic side is generally driven to photography. I'm most interested in portraits in large format. Here is a picture of my 8x10 camera including a typical 35mm camera for comparison sake. Yep, she's huge and makes those wonderful 8x10 inch negatives.

I was turned onto a photographer named Brian Ulrich who is using his large format camera (4x5 inches) in candid situations where most people would use a 35mm or similar digital camera. You can get away with "sneaking" a photo with a 35mm or a point-and-shoot camera - but there is no hiding the fact that you are using a 4x5 or larger camera!

He has been working on a project called "Copia" since 2001 - here is his project statement:

In 2001 citizens were encouraged to take to the malls to boost the U.S. economy through shopping, thereby equating consumerism with patriotism. The Copia project, a direct response to that advice, is a long-term photographic examination of the peculiarities and complexities of the consumer-dominated culture in which we live. Through large scale photographs taken within both the big-box retail stores and the thrift shops that house our recycled goods, Copia explores not only the everyday activities of shopping, but the economic, cultural, social, and political implications of commercialism and the roles we play in self-destruction, over-consumption, and as targets of marketing and advertising. By scrutinizing these rituals and their environments, I hope that viewers will evaluate the increasing complexities of the modern world and their own role within it.

http://www.notifbutwhen.com/NIBW/

Click on "Projects" and then "Copia" to see the three galleries associated with the project. Really amazing stuff.